Habitat honors memory of community champion

By Will MacDonaldGazette Community Editor

Friday

Aug 12, 2016 at 3:49 PMAug 12, 2016 at 3:49 PM

When I drive by the Habitat for Humanity offices and ReStore in Gastonia, I think about Johan Newcombe. I suspect a lot of other folks who remember her tireless dedication to the Christian-based home building program do, too.

In 1988, Newcombe and another longtime community leader -- Becky Carter -- teamed up to establish the county's first Habitat chapter.

You just knew that when these two good friends pooled their talent that great things were going to happen. Newcombe and Carter put Habitat on the map here. The organization broke ground on its first home in 1989 and since then 108 Habitat homes have gone up around Gaston County.

COMMITTED TO GASTON COUNTY

Newcombe, who grew up in Charlotte, moved to Gastonia in 1979 where her husband, Artie, was employed by Parkdale Mills.

She dived head first into her adopted hometown as a volunteer and quickly established herself as someone who could get things done.

When her husband stepped down from the board of directors of the United Way of Gaston County, she took his place and drew praise for her leadership skills.

"She brought a lot of perspective and understanding to the situation we had in Gaston County at that time," said the late Caroline Garrison, the United Way Director from 1984 to 1992, at the time.

Gaston was struggling with a slumping economy, a high illiteracy rate, and other social problems. Newcombe made sure the United Way was on the forefront of addressing those issues.

A BUILDER OF COMMUNITY

At Habitat she became the first volunteer president and executive director. When she received the Allen H. Sims Award from the Community Foundation of Gaston County in 2011 for her work with Habitat, she was aptly described as "the major architect" of the program in Gastonia.

But as everybody knows, people like Newcombe don't exactly retire: In 1995, she joined the board of directors of the Community Foundation and in 1998 served as president. She helped start both the Run for the Money campaign and the Next Generation Fund. From there, she served on the board of the David Belk Cannon Foundation.

She also served on the board of First Community Bank and was a member and longtime supporter of the Junior League, as well as being active in her church, All Saints Episcopal in Gastonia.

When Newcombe died last November, a line from her obituary stuck with me: "Johan had a passion for building community and shepherding others to join in the effort."

HER TAKE ON THINGS

Newcombe came from a generation that never talked about the work they did in the community. It wasn't shared on Facebook or Twitter. It happened quietly, behind the scenes. That's how she liked it.

She shared her perspective on community in an interview with The Gazette in 2007, when she received the newspaper's Spirit of Freedom Award for the indelible mark she'd left on organizations like Habitat, United Way and the Community Foundation.

"We were just lucky we came to Gastonia," she told reporter Michael Barrett. "We just loved living here and found it to be an exciting place with a lot of things to do."

Newcombe said she and her husband decided to get involved in their adopted hometown just as much for themselves as for others. Truly getting to know a community, she said, requires getting out on the streets.

"You can't just read about things in the paper," she said. "The only way to experience it is to get out there and do it."

AN HONOR WELL DESERVED

In 2010, Habitat for Humanity dedicated its 20th anniversary house in her honor. On Tuesday, the organization will pay tribute to her again with the dedication of the Johan Newcombe Event Center.

The side of the building -- where the entrance to the event center is located -- now bears Newcombe's name, as does a sign in the parking lot.

It's a fitting tribute to a woman who was not just devoted to Habitat but the entire community.

Mary Harris, Habitat's executive director, sees the space as a place where churches, nonprofit community groups, civic organizations and businesses can hold events. Proceeds from renting the center will go back to helping Habitat realize its goal of building decent, affordable housing for those who might not realize the dream of home ownership without the organization's help.

She thinks Newcombe would be pleased.

"I wish she was here to see it," Harris said.

The gift from the David Belk Cannon Foundation to develop the center "speaks so highly of Johan."

There's a photo of Newcombe on Harris' desk and there isn't a day she doesn't think of her late mentor and friend.

"She was such a role model for me," Harris said. "She taught me what community is all about."